The federal government has restored Oklahoma’s flexibility to decide how to use $29 million in public school funding, state officials said Monday. The U.S. Department of Education had withdrawn Oklahoma’s waiver from portions of the No Child Left Behind Act in August, after legislators dropped Common Core guidelines that would have been in place for the current school year. Replacement guidelines—the ones in place before Common Core—weren’t certified until October as being capable of making high school graduates ready for college or the workplace. …

Jerome Hauer, a top aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, appears to have regularly carried a firearm to work in violation of state law. Hauer runs New York’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. Cuomo, an advocate of ultra-strict gun control laws, appointed him to the job in 2011. Hauer’s 9-millimeter Glock first came to the attention of local newspapers when he used the gun’s laser sighting attachment as a pointer during a meeting with a Swedish delegation. That event occurred last October at a State Police bunker, and was first reported by the Albany Times Union in...

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration will grant a waiver exempting volunteer emergency departments, mainly fire departments, from the Affordable Care Act's requirement that employers with more than 50 workers working 30 hours or more per week provide health coverage. The announcement came from a Treasury Department official in a blog posted over the weekend. It means that on January 1, 2015, when employers with 50 or more workers are required to provide health coverage to their workers, volunteer fire department and ambulance companies will be exempted. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who joined some other congressional members in asking for the...

A top Senate Republican is blasting regulations he argues will exempt unions' multi-employer health plans from a key tax under ObamaCare. Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune (S.D.) pointed to a section of a 255-page regulatory filing and said it would amount to a "bailout" for the labor moment, which has grown increasingly dissatisfied with the new healthcare law. "Despite endorsing ObamaCare and working fervently to get it passed, unions are now experiencing the ugly reality of this law, and they want out. This exemption is crony capitalism at its worst," said Thune, who is behind a bill to block...

Via Watchdog.Org, if you can believe it: One of President ObamaÂ’s most ardent liberal supporters has defected from Obamacare.Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, told a Colorado health policy think tank that Obamacare premiums will be too expensive for some of the wealthiest addresses in America Â– ski resorts like Breckenridge and Keystone. â€¦Â“We will be encouraging a waiver,Â” Polis told Health Policy Solutions in a story that ran today. Â“It will be difficult for Summit County residents to become insured. For the vast majority, itÂ’s too high a price to pay.Â” â€¦Polis also wrote to ColoradoÂ’s insurance commissioner asking why an...

...Laborers (LIUNA) President Terry O'Sullivan, who endorsed the resolution, told the convention delegates that without changes to the way the ACA is implemented, there are likely to be "unintended consequences" that will hurt workers' health care coverage. AFT Secretary-Treasurer Lorretta Johnson said many AFT members, including para-professionals, adjunct college professors, nurses and public employees, have had their hours cut to under the 30-hour week threshold they must work before ACA requires employers to provide affordable, comprehensive health care coverage or pay a penalty. Trumka did tell the delegates that "the labor movement is engaged in ongoing dialogue with a number...

The federal government granted Indiana a year-long Obamacare waiver on Tuesday, allowing the state to continue to run its own Medicaid pilot program, The Washington Post reports. Indiana, along with Iowa and Arkansas, requested major exemptions from the law, and is the first state to receive one. “Securing a waiver to continue the Healthy Indiana Plan is a victory for Hoosiers enrolled in this innovative program and will ensure that Indiana remains at the forefront of consumer-driven healthcare in the United States,” Republican Gov. Mike Pence said in a statement. Pence will now consider expanding Medicaid under the state’s “Healthy...

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday issued proposed rules that would ease the administrative requirements for companies and insurers when they report employees' health coverage information to comply with President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. The proposal issued Thursday would, among other things, eliminate the need for employers to determine whether particular employees are full-time if adequate coverage is offered to all "potentially full-time employees." It also would let employers report specific costs for health plans only if the cost is above a certain threshold dollar amount.

America has a two-party system. But it’s not Republicans versus Democrats. It’s the ruling class — Republicans and Democrats — against everyone else. Consider how President Obama just gave Congress its very own Obamacare waiver. Obamacare includes a provision that should cost each member of Congress and each staffer $5,000 to $11,000 per year. Needless to say, the ruling class was not pleased. Congress wasn’t about to try to exempt itself from this provision explicitly, though. If John Q. Congressman voted to give himself an Obamacare waiver that his constituents don’t get, he wouldn’t be John Q. Congressman much longer....

News broke late last evening about the debate playing out over Obamacare and whether members of Congress and their staffs will get special treatment. Yet a detailed analysis of this issue by Heritage Foundation experts found that the Office of Personnel Management does not have the legal authority to do what the Obama Administration promised Congress last night. Furthermore, it is mighty curious that word of the Obama Administration “solving” Congress’ problem was suddenly leaked to a couple reporters at 9 p.m. — just hours before the release of Heritage’s report (embargoed copies of which had been given to the...

The Office of Personnel Management, under heavy pressure from Capitol Hill, will issue a ruling that says the government can continue to make a contribution to the health care premiums of members of Congress and their aides, according to several Hill sources. A White House official confirmed the deal and said the proposed regulations will be issued next week. Just Wednesday, POLITICO reported that President Barack Obama told Democratic senators that he was personally involved in finding a solution. The problem was rooted in the original text of the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) inserted a provision which...

When Chief Justice John Roberts upheld the Patient Affordability Care Act, many of us considered him derelict in his duty to enforce the Constitution. He engaged in judicial activism to give the appearance of avoiding judicial activism. He wrote: "Members of this Court are vested with the authority to interpret the law; we possess neither the expertise nor the prerogative to make policy judgments. Those decisions are entrusted to our Nation's elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their...

Few fair minded Americans would argue that the tenants of Capitol Hill should suffer the slings and arrows which complicate the lives of mere commoners. After all, seeing to the 24/7 needs of the underclasses is burden enough for anyone. But thanks to an amendment to the Affordable Care Act, members of the political ruling class and their congressional staff will soon join the little people in suffering the financial distress promised in a 2,700 page law read and understood by very few within the beltway. And the DC elite do not like it one bit. Before ObamaCare was rammed...

Dozens of lawmakers and aides are so afraid that their health insurance premiums will skyrocket next year thanks to Obamacare that they are thinking about retiring early or just quitting... The fear: Government-subsidized premiums will disappear at the end of the year under a provision in the health care law that nudges aides and lawmakers onto the government health care exchanges, which could make their benefits exorbitantly expensive... If the issue isn’t resolved, and massive numbers of lawmakers and aides bolt, many on Capitol Hill fear it could lead to a brain drain just as Congress tackles a slew of...

Two weeks ago, I pointed out Section 1555, one of the major chinks in PPACA's armor according to an attorney at the Goldwater Institute. Section 1555 is in the law under "Subtitle G - Miscellaneous Provisions." Since bringing this up, I've heard from some who believe that this section is limited solely to those who sell ("issue") health insurance. Here again is Section 1555: "No individual, company, business, nonprofit entity, or health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall be required to participate in any Federal health insurance program created under this Act (or any amendments made...

A number of states have decided to separate their education achievement goals by race as part of their No Child Left Behind waivers. The question remains whether this move marks a “realistic” approach to education, or a major step backward for education fueled by lowered expectations for racial groups. “I put the question of states adjusting expectations based on a student’s ethnicity to Carla O’Connor, an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Michigan,” writes Emily Richmond for The Atlantic. “O’Connor, who specializes in African-American student achievement and urban education, said the new sliding bar for...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday granted New Jersey a temporary waiver on Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) requirements to help counter a shortfall in fuel supplies in parts of the state following Hurricane Sandy. The waiver allows for the sale of diesel fuel that exceeds standards of 15 parts per million of sulfur under limited conditions effective immediately, according to a letter from EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to Governor Chris Christie. The waiver -- which the letter said aimed to "minimize or prevent disruption of the supply of diesel in New Jersey" -- extends for...

Two GOP Senators are demanding clarification on what security measures were in place for U.S. personnel there after reports that those who attacked the Libyan consulate may have had inside help. Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Bob Corker (R-TN) have sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton which stated that they were "extremely concerned" over news of how security may have been handled in the days leading up to the attack. Isakson and Corker have read reports that indicate the State Dept. not only failed to bolster security at the Libyan consulate as threats mounted but actually sought...

HHS is selling this under the guise of "flexibility" and says the point is to get more people working, not fewer. But recall that the joint state-federal welfare program has always had "work" requirements. Prior to 1996, they included such demands as journaling, bed rest and massage therapy. For this reason, the statute specifically enumerated a 12-point definition of "work." People who can but don't meet the work terms eventually lose benefits. States have enormous flexibility to help recipients back into the job market. But they forfeit a portion of their federal money unless a certain percentage of their caseload...

With the Supreme Court giving President Obama’s new health care law a green light, federal and state officials are turning to implementation of the law — a lengthy and massive undertaking still in its early stages, but already costing money and expanding the government. The Health and Human Services Department “was given a billion dollars implementation money,” Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana said. “That money is gone already on additional bureaucrats and IT programs, computerization for the implementation.” “Oh boy,” Stan Dorn of the Urban Institute said. “HHS has a huge amount of work to do and the states...

Crony capitalism at its most basic. Create onerous regulations and then give out exemptions to allies and constituents. The only wrinkle in this case is that the demographic subsection unburdening itself of ObamaCare is the same demographic subsection that has been most pointedly exuberant in advocating health care reform, with California Democrats even passing symbolic health care laws just like the ones that their most liberal supporters are now opting out of. On the federal level, of course, Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi was instrumental in securing ObamaCare’s passage. And now, for a disproportionate number of businesses in Pelosi’s San...

It may be hard to keep track of with the round-the-clock news cycle, but the continuing injustice of waivers to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act deserves careful scrutiny by the American citizenry. The list of granted waivers now stands at 733. A glance reveals that much of this favored class is made up of the law's biggest supporters: unions and health care providers. A more extensive analysis of the list would be a waste of time; the salient point is that it is a manifestation of privilege -- i.e., Americans are unequal under Obamacare. While some are given...

Emigrant Bank was recently identified to receive a waiver that would allow the bank to opt out of rigorous Dodd-Frank requirements. These of course are the same new rules and regulations that Barack deems essential to the nation. Yet when the bank’s owner, Howard Milstein, who is a close friend and was a bundler for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, protested that the new rules would seriously crimp operations of his bank, the Obama Administration worked with members of congress to grant him a waiver from the new rules. Other financial institutions and banks have consistently and vehemently argued that...

Obama administration concludes healthcare law waiver reviewBy Julian Pecquet - 02/16/12 04:12 PM ET The Obama administration on Thursday denied Wisconsin's request for a waiver from the healthcare law's medical loss ratio, while partially approving North Carolina's. With the two decisions, the Department of Health and Human Services has concluded its review of the 17 states that have requested a waiver from the law's requirement that individual market insurance plans spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care or give customers rebates. HHS has rejected 10 requests and approved modified applications from seven states. Wisconsin wanted a lower...

This, despite the supposed "tightening" of rules made by HHS last summer. The Daily Caller: Labor unions continued to receive the overwhelming majority of waivers from the president's health care reform law since the Obama administration tightened application rules last summer. Documents released in a classic Friday afternoon news dump show that labor unions representing 543,812 workers received waivers from President Barack Obama's signature legislation since June 17, 2011. By contrast, private employers with a total of 69,813 employees, many of whom work for small businesses, were granted waivers.

An ice-breaking Russian tanker won an exemption from U.S. maritime law on Friday allowing it to deliver fuel to the isolated Alaska city of Nome... The U.S. Department of Homeland Security granted a Jones Act waiver to the Russian ship, the Renda, which is scheduled to deliver diesel fuel and gasoline to the Alaska city of 3,600 people... Senator Mark Begich said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano responded to pleas for a Jones Act exception to help alleviate what could be a serious winter fuel shortage. ... Nome, which has no outside road connections and relies on marine vessels or...

In schools around the country, 2011 was marked by test cheating scandalsBy Associated Press, Published: December 31 ATLANTA — It was the year of the test cheating scandal. From Atlanta to Philadelphia and Washington to Los Angeles, officials have accused hundreds of educators of changing answers on tests or giving answers to students. Just last week, state investigators revealed that dozens of educators in 11 schools in Georgia’s Dougherty County either cheated or failed to prevent cheating on 2009 standardized tests. **SNIP** At President Obama’s invitation, states have begun filing waivers to get relief from the law. Under the 11...

The Obama administration on Monday rejected two states’ requests for waivers from the healthcare reform law. The decision could rekindle the controversy over the waiver process, as the two states that were turned down, Indiana and Louisiana, have Republican governors. GOP leaders at the state level have been extremely critical of the healthcare law and the requirements that it imposes on states. The Department of Health and Human Services said Indiana and Louisiana do not need an adjustment from the health law's medical loss ratio. That provision requires insurers to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care...

In 2007, under Gov. Mitch Daniels (R.), Indiana enacted the Healthy Indiana Plan, an expansion of Medicaid that used consumer-driven health plans to encourage low-income beneficiaries to take a more active role in their own care. Today, Health Indiana is arguably the most innovative and successful reform of Medicaid in the history of the program. Today, we learn that the Obama Administration has rejected the state’s request to extend its federal waiver, which means that over 45,000 Indianans who get their insurance through the program are out of luck. Medicaid, of course, is the nation’s government-run health insurance program for...

"They're small. I couldn't speak to all 1,800 of them, but some of the lists that I have seen have been very, very small companies. They will not have a big impact on the economy of our country," Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with CNBC. McDonalds, one of the nation's largest employers in recent years, has received a waiver.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents trying to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border say they're hampered by laws that keep them from driving vehicles on huge swaths of land because it falls under U.S. environmental protection, leaving it to wildlife — and illegal immigrants and smugglers who can walk through the territory undisturbed. A growing number of lawmakers are saying such restrictions have turned wilderness areas into highways for criminals. In recent weeks, three congressional panels, including two in the GOP-controlled House and one in the Democratic-controlled Senate, have moved to give the Border Patrol unfettered access to all federally managed lands...

Group rips Indiana request for permanent health law waiverBy Julian Pecquet - 10/10/11 02:46 PM ET The state of Indiana is under fire from consumer advocates for requesting a perpetual waiver from a key provision of the healthcare reform law. The law allows waivers for health plans to phase in the law's medical loss ratio requirement, which requires the plans to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care or give consumers a rebate. Indiana is the only state so far to request that high-deductible health plans be exempted forever. "Indiana's application is based on state politicians' ideological...

By: AJ for NoisyRoom Contributor: Toddy Littman Section 376 of Obama’s tax and spend “jobs” bill ends state sovereignty, turns our Republic into a dictatorship and destroys the foundation upon which our country was built. The fundamental transformation of America is almost complete.Read the bill. (Emphasis added) “SEC. 376. FEDERAL AND STATE IMMUNITY.(a) Abrogation of State Immunity- A State shall not be immune under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution from a suit brought in a Federal court of competent jurisdiction for a violation of this Act. (b) Waiver of State Immunity-(1) IN GENERAL-(A) WAIVER- A State’s receipt or use...

Another ObamaCare glitch could result in some businesses being exempt from fines for not providing their workers with health insurance. A company would have to challenge the fine in court. But if one does, that could eliminate employer penalties in many states and make residents in those areas ineligible for premium tax credits. Under ObamaCare, a company with 50 or more employees faces a $2,000 annual fine per employee if it does not provide insurance. But it's only fined if one of its employees applies and qualifies for a premium tax credit via a health insurance exchange.

Today, a top national restaurant chain partnered with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move childhood anti-obesity campaign. Last year, that same company received a waiver exempting it from some of the most stringent mandates of ObamaCare. Michelle Obama visited an Olive Garden restaurant in Hyattsville, Maryland today as Darden Restaurants announced that it would reduce the amount of calories and sodium in its menu by 20% over the next decade. Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse, Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, and Seasons 52, received a waiver from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on October...

President Obama had lunch today with "four business leaders to discuss ideas to grow the economy and create jobs," according to the White House. The participants met to "discuss the importance of working with the private sector to promote job training efforts, including ways that companies have been partnering with higher educational institutions to develop curriculum and programs that ensure graduates will have the appropriate background and skills to succeed and get hired within the companies." Curiously, one of the participants, businessman Clarence Otis, could have used today's affair to provide President Obama a "teachable moment" (a favorite phrase of...

Republicans accused the Obama administration of instituting "backdoor amnesty" after officials announced they would launch a case-by-case review of illegal immigrants slated for deportation in an effort to thin the list and focus resources on kicking out criminals. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, one of the president's toughest critics on border security, said the move amounts to the administration implementing an immigration overhaul "via executive fiat." "The plan amounts to backdoor amnesty for hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of illegal aliens," the Republican governor said in a written statement.

HHS grants 106 new healthcare waivers By Sam Baker - 08/19/11 04:33 PM ET The Obama administration granted another 106 waivers last month from part of the healthcare reform law — the first round of three-year waivers the Health and Human Services Department has approved. The new approvals bring the total number of waivers to 1,472, according to HHS. Those figures cover waivers granted through the end of July. HHS will stop granting new waivers after September. Some health plans, usually offered to low-wage workers, place caps on how much they'll pay out in benefits over a year. The healthcare...

The Homeland Security Department said Thursday it will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria such as attending school, having family in the military or are primarily responsible for other family members’ care. The move, announced in letters to Congress, comes after Hispanic activists and Democrats had urged President Obama to exempt broad swaths of illegal immigrants from deportation while Congress wrestles with the issue. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said her department and the Justice Department will review all ongoing cases and see who meets the new criteria on a case-by-case basis....

(CNSNews.com) - The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Tuesday that it has awarded $28.8 million to 67 community health centers with funds from the Obamacare health reform law. Of that $28.8 million, "approximately $8.5 million will be used by 25 New Access Point awardees to target services to migrant and seasonal farm workers," Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Spokeswoman Judy Andrews told CNSNews.com. HRSA is a part of HHS. Andrews said that grant recipients will not check the immigration status of people seeking services. “Health centers do not, as a matter of routine practice, ask...

Obama Just Eliminated Health Care Waivers, Meaning 1,433 Companies Will Have To PayGus Lubin | Jun. 18, 2011, 6:19 AM The White House announced late last night that it would end the health care waivers program. The program exempted some employers from a requirement to offer at least $1.25 million worth of coverage annually. Currently there are 1,433 employers who use the program, covering 3 million Americans, according to the LA Times. Starting in September they will have to offer coverage. This follows a controversial report from McKinsey, which claimed that a bigger, more expensive Obamacare was coming next year...

(CNSNews.com) – The Department of Health and Human Services has granted a total of 1,372 waivers from ObamaCare insurance mandates since the law’s enactment, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. The waivers are for so-called mini-med plans that offer annual coverage limits. They were outlawed by ObamaCare and are scheduled to be regulated out of existence in 2014. However, such plans are often the only form of health insurance available to workers and without the waivers most would no longer be available.

Vermont's Single Payer System: Coming to a State Near You?Nona Willis Aronowitz - East Coast associate editor June 1, 2011 • 5:00 am PDT Liberals finally have the health care system they’ve been hoping for—in one state at least. Last week, Vermont’s governor Peter Shumlin signed a law that puts the state on the path to providing single-payer health care. The plan will first create a statewide exchange where residents can pick from private or state insurance plans, but eventually there will just be one state-operated system called Green Mountain Care. Before you pack your bags, though, be advised: the...

Remember when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got all wound up in March 2010 about the passage of ObamaCare and told the assembled conventioneers at the National Association of Counties that the bill's reforms were going to make health care in America "very, very exciting"? To lift "the fog of controversy" off the legislation, all Congress had to do, she explained, was "pass the bill so that you can find out what's in it." None of us, in short, was supposed to play any part. Speaker Pelosi, President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had it all figured out, just...

Shumlin signs health care reform bill into lawMontpelier, Vermont - May 26, 2011 Vermont is officially on its way to a single-payer, publicly-funded health care system. Thursday morning Governor Peter Shumlin signed into law legislation that's getting the process started. The bill creates a five-member board that will work with the governor and the Legislature to design the system for bringing health coverage to all Vermonters. The group is charged with determining how the system will be funded and implemented. The governor is seeking applications for the new board. Opponents say the move will destroy the private insurance market in...

We now have a clear picture of the treachery in which AARP has engaged since President Obama took office. The Daily Caller reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has granted Medigap policy sellers, including the American Association of Retired Persons, exemption from ObamaCare-mandated federal supervision of insurance premium hikes. "Medigap" is an industry term for a type of coverage that helps pay medical costs not covered by Medicare. Non-Medigap insurers, not exempted from ObamaCare's rate reviews, must justify rate increases. In effect, the HHS exemption gives AARP the ability to generate profits not achievable by non-exempted...

No one seems to know what criteria HHS uses to grant or deny waivers to insurers from provisions in ObamaCare. The White House wonâ€™t release the names of those insurers and employers refused waivers or discuss denials at all. But maybe, just maybe, we could all agree that organizations that publicly pushed ObamaCare to approval should be ineligible to escape its consequences? The Daily Caller has learned that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rate review rules, which it finalized on Thursday, exempt Â“MedigapÂ” policy providers, like the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), from oversight when such...

.., the problem of the ‘Obamacare Waivers’ continues with the latest Obama-Pelosi-Reid game of favoritism going to the AARP. Everyone knows that if we allocated just part of the trillion(s) given to the PPACA legislation to pay for uninsured care, combined this with an honest ‘buy-in’ of physicians who could contribute charity care in exchange for tax credits (for instance) to oversee reasonable outcomes-based changes to how medical and surgical care is delivered and payed for, and threw in open interstate competition for insurance companies, that we’d be most of the way ‘there’ toward meaningful reform. Add to these basic...